As warmer temperatures moved in, the ice began to break up. Wind and waves then pushed the ice towards shore, creating mountains of ice.

An ice shove occurs when strong winds over a prolonged period blow from the same direction quickly pushing ice from a lake or ocean onshore, weather.com meteorologist Linda Lam said.

Strong water currents can also create ice shoves, Lam said. The result is large pieces of ice piling up because movement of the ice slows down once it reaches land.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.